Masquerade
by Jenna822
Summary: *Short Story* "Love is like a flower, give it time and it will grow." – John Lennon *James/Lily* Cᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ.
1. ACT I

**ACT I.**

**PROLOGUE.**

For three long years, James Potter found himself enthralled with Lily Evans;

And for three long years, Lily Evans found James to be arrogant and foolish.

Thus, the summer before their final year at Hogwarts, James formed a plan;

He would woo and win the hand of his lady love from beneath a dark shroud.

But this proved to be a challenge, you see, so James sent forth his best mate;

And tasked him with acquiring an invitation to the Meadowes' masquerade.

* * *

**SCENE I. London. Inside a Muggle café.**

Sirius Black stepped inside of a tiny Muggle café in London. Over a year he had spent out of his parents' home, but he still felt awkward and out of place inside the predominantly Muggle establishment. More so, he looked awkward and out of place clothed in a finely pressed, full white suit and tie. He flicked nervously at his collar and scanned across the faces of several teenagers, all staring at him as though he were a side show attraction. The boy flashed a dazzling grin and dragged his fingers back through his shaggy black strands; a classic move that he found had just as much charm when used on these Muggles as the girls back at school.

The nearest girl jumped to her feet and smiled casually at Sirius as she slowly approached him. "You're not from around here are you?" she cooed, letting her eyes flicker over the boy's attire. "I think I'd remember you," she added as she twisted a strand of her long brown hair around her finger.

Sirius shifted in spot and gave a careless shrug. "No, it's my first time to this area," he answered with a laugh. "I'm supposed to be meeting a girl here," he continued, much to the brunette's chagrin. "She's a friend of mine." The boy smirked as the young girl's eyes lit up once more.

"What's this friend's name?" she asked, tilting her head to give herself an innocent appearance.

"Dor-"

"I'm right here," interrupted a young girl's voice as she pushed herself between Sirius and the brunette. "I'm late and you...look _ridiculous_." Dorcas Meadowes folded her arms over her chest and gave Sirius the full look over. "What are you wearing?" she asked, laughing quietly as she pushed the nameless brunette out of her way and led the boy to a back table.

"Muggle clothes," Sirius whispered as he dropped down into a chair across from Dorcas. "I've seen Muggles dress this way," he insisted.

"Yeah, ones that are thirty-years-old," Dorcas laughed as she tossed her soft, golden curls back over her shoulder. "Doesn't matter. I don't care what you're wearing." She waved her hand idly at the boy and adjusted the shoulder of her sundress.

Sirius ran his hands over his tie and scowled. "Why are we meeting in a Muggle place anyways?" he asked, not bothering to hold back his annoyance.

"You have a problem with Muggles?" the girl snapped, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"No!" Sirius put his hand over his mouth and glanced around, feeling a bit foolish at his loud outburst. He leaned closer to Dorcas and proceeded to speak in a whisper. "No. I just find it odd that you want to meet me here."

"I like their pie," Dorcas answered in a simple tone.

"Their pie?"

"That's what I said." The blonde girl raised her eyebrows and smirked when Sirius put his hands up in defeat. She looked up and smiled at the server girl as she appeared at their table. "You want something? On me," Dorcas offered.

After the two ordered slices of coconut cream pie and something Dorcas called Coca Cola, Sirius scooted his chair around to be closer to the girl. "Well, did you bring them? You _are_ gonna let me have them, aren't you? You said if I met up with you, you'd give me the invitations."

"That I did," Dorcas answered with a nod. "And I will. If..." the girl trailed off with a sneaky smile and dug into her purse. "If you take more than two," she finished. She waved four heavy envelopes in front of Sirius' face, teasing him with the prospect of attaining what he desired.

Sirius raised one eyebrow and stared at the girl's offering. "You can't be serious. You don't actually think that Remus is gonna come along, do you? There's no way in hell that I could get him to go. No, not gonna happen." He shook his head adamantly and leaned back in his chair.

"Either you get him to come...or you don't get these," she said softly, waving the invitations in his face once more. "It can't be too hard. My parents' masquerade is well known and anyone who's anyone is going to be there. They always are. Even the Minister of Magic shows up every year."

"Well, that would be fine, I'm sure that Remus has nothing against the Minister of Magic." Sirius gave the blonde girl a rather arrogant grin and added, "After all, the Minister didn't almost knock him out of the owlery window."

"He needs to get past that. It was ages ago!"

"Dorcas, it was five months ago."

"That's ages in teenage years. But that's exactly why I need you to bring him to the party," Dorcas hissed, slamming her hand down and smashing the invitations into the table. "I just think - No, I _know_ that if I could get a few minutes alone with him, without him knowing who I was, then he would come around. He would see that we belong together."

"You're awfully sure of yourself," Sirius snorted.

Dorcas slowly picked up the invitations from the table and held them next to her face. "I have four of them, one for you, one for Potter, one for Pettigrew and one for Remus. Either you bring Remus along, or I'll have the house-elf toss you like week-old rubbish and James will _never_ get his shot at Lily."

Sirius swallowed back a lump in his throat and nodded slowly. "I'll get him to come."

"How?"

"I don't know yet. I'll think of something; I will! I'll...appeal to his sense of friendship and...I'll bribe him with something." Sirius reached for the envelopes, hope gleaming in his eyes.

Dorcas pulled the invitations back out of Sirius' reach just before his fingers touched them. "And you'll send me an owl with what his mask looks like," she added. When the boy nodded hesitantly, the blonde handed over his reward. "Pleasure doing business with you, Mister Black," she said in a rather _pleased-with-herself_ tone.

Sirius stared down at the victory that now lay in his hands, torn between the joy of getting exactly what James wanted and the sinking feeling from the dreaded task it would be to get Remus on board.

* * *

**SCENE II. Backyard of the Lupin house.**

A loud crack shot through the air in the backyard of the Lupin household, closely followed by a second, even louder crack. The two figures of James Potter and Sirius Black bumped into each other, still a bit disoriented from their Apparation. Laughter erupted from the boys as they clung to each other for support and tried to regain their balance.

"Could you have been any louder?" growled Remus Lupin as he charged across yard and looked around, fearful for prying Muggle eyes.

"What was that?" yelled a voice from the back door of Remus' house. A woman in her late forties peeked out of the doorway and frowned upon seeing Sirius and James' smiling faces. "I've asked you boys not to do that until you get better at it," the woman scolded with narrowed eyes before disappearing back into the house.

"Your mum's in a mood," Sirius teased, knocking Remus on his arm with his fist and grinning.

"She wasn't," Remus argued, "until you two shot in here like a couple of rifles."

"Couple of what?" Sirius inquired, but James waved his hand, uncaring for an explanation.

"We need to talk to you," James started, tugging on Remus' shirt sleeve to get his full attention. "Why are you covered in dirt?" he asked, suddenly aware of the taller boy's messy appearance.

Remus rolled his light blue eyes and clapped the dirt from his hands. "I was working in the garden," he muttered, his head ducked, knowing that teasing was sure to follow. "Did you guys want something?" he asked, quickly, hoping to get off the subject before Sirius could have a proper go at his Muggle-style gardening habits.

James nodded eagerly and clapped Remus on the back, giving him a bright smile. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked, his tone innocent and light.

"I was gonna get started on some of the required reading for classes. I just got the Hi- Why?" Remus' tone changed from casual to terrified as realization dawned over him. "I'm not going," he said suddenly, shaking his head with resolve. "You-you two are going to that masquerade, aren't you? You got her to invite you and you think I'm going too, don't you, _don't you_? You think I'm gonna go!"

Sirius gave a lighthearted laugh and laid his hand on Remus' shoulder. "Moony, Moony, Moony," he began as he tried to keep the nervous smile from his lips.

"Don't you Moony, Moony, Moony me! I'm not going."

"But Remus, this is important," James pleaded. "If you don't go along, we can't get in."

"She threatened to toss us like rubbish if you don't go." Sirius clasped his hands into a pleading position and pouted out his lips at Remus.

"So just tell her I'm there...lie."

"Lie? That's not a very Gryffindor thing to say, Moony," Sirius teased.

Remus raised his eyebrows in defiance and folded his arms over his chest. "I'm not going," he repeated.

James and Sirius exchanged glances and nodded at each other before Sirius made an offer. "I'll buy you anything you want from Honeydukes. As much as you want. Mounds and mounds of anything and everything." When his offer was met with Remus' head shaking, the boy threw up his hands. "Show him, James," Sirius barked.

James sighed and pulled a thick, leather bound, antique book from inside of his robes. "So, I was going through a box last night, just some old gifts and stuff that I never looked twice at, you know all that junk that relatives send and you don't really want, but your dad won't let yo-"

"The point?"

"Oh, right, the point...okay, so I happened to come across this book," he finished, holding it up to allow Remus to see the front of it.

"Is that...? It can't be," Remus whispered, leaning forward to see the cover better. "That's really rare, James. You just had that stuffed in a box somewhere?" The boy stared over at James with a mix of astonishment and disappointment.

"Yeah...I didn't know it was special," James defended. When Sirius nudged him in the side, he straightened up and went on. "You can have it," he told Remus, holding the book out towards him.

Remus' eyes just about leapt from his skull at the other boy's words. He pulled his hand back through his light brown hair and let out a shuddered laugh. "Really?" he asked, reaching towards the book. Just before his fingers could reach the cover, he jerked his hand away and scowled at James and Sirius. "No. This is a trick. You say I can have it, but what? Only if I go to that party, right? Nu uh."

"But this is _rare_," James whined, waving the book at Remus enticingly.

Remus turned his eyes up to the sky in an effort to ignore his friend's pleading eyes and the book he was finding hard to resist. James let out a growl and threw a desperate glance over at Sirius.

Sirius took a deep breath and chewed his bottom lip for a moment. "Last chance to change your mind," he told Remus. When the taller boy once again refused, Sirius took a step closer and smirked. "If you don't come along...I'll tell everyone that your first kiss was Della Prang," he whispered.

"You wouldn't!" Remus cried out, his eyes wide with horror. "That isn't true though! No one would believe that."

"Maybe," Sirius agreed, a laugh teetering on his words. "Or maybe everyone will believe me. And they'll all think that you kissed her and you'll forever be known as t-"

"Fine!" Remus snapped. "I'll go along," he forced out through his teeth, narrowing his eyes at Sirius. His hand shot out and snatched the book from James' unsuspecting hands before either of the other boys could even register the movement. "I'm keeping the book though," he added as he clutched the leather treasure to his chest and closed his eyes.

James hopped into the air and let out a joyful hoot, his smile stretching so far across his face it was near painful. "Remus, I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Remus' eyes cut over towards James and he twisted his lips. "If I end up dangling from the roof, or worse, then my blood is on _your_ hands, James Potter."

"I can live with that possibility," James consented, still grinning like a fool. "Oh...and I have some robes you can wear," he added tentatively.

"And I got you a mask already," Sirius added, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"You know, since we're forcing you to go." James turned his eyes towards the ground and bit his bottom lip.

"Thanks guys."

* * *

**SCENE III. A dress shop.**

Lily Evans reluctantly allowed her best friend, Dorcas, to tug her into a high-end dress shop. She let her emerald eyes fall over the vast array of fine fabrics and intricate detailing on each of the displayed gowns. The girl hung back, staring nervously at the wall as Dorcas greeted the shop girl and began talking about Lily as though she wasn't standing a few steps away.

"No emerald," Lily finally spoke up as Dorcas and the shop girl started mentioning her eyes. "I don't want to wear emerald. I always get put in green and I just want something...different." She gave a weak smile to both of the other girls and twisted her hands in front of her as they resumed chatting.

Two hours and fourteen dresses later, Lily Evans stood in front of a full length mirror, admiring her reflection in a deep blue gown with silver trimming. "I love it," she whispered, more to herself than the very pleased Dorcas standing next to her. "But it's too much," the red-head added, her smile fading.

"Too much? What do you mean too much? It looks fantastic on you. It isn't over showy or anything," Dorcas whined.

"I meant the price is too much," Lily explained as she stepped down off the mirror lined platform. "It's almost twice what I have saved and I won't get paid again until next week." She sighed and slipped into the changing room to take off the dress.

Dorcas let out another whine and hooked her fingers over the top of the changing room door. "Then let me pay for what you don't have," she said. She laid her head against the door and batted her lashes, despite the other girl not being able to see her.

"I can't ask you to do that," Lily called out. "And don't make those puppy dog eyes at me, either."

"I wasn't!" Dorcas lied, arranging her face and letting her arms fall heavily to her sides. "Besides, you aren't _asking_ me, I'm offering. If you already had your money, would you buy the dress?"

"Yeah," Lily answered as she stepped back out of the room and handed the deep blue gown back over to the shop girl.

Dorcas held up her hands and smiled. "There you go. Consider it a loan. I'll pay for what you don't have now and you can you just pay me back whenever."

"Not whenever, next week. Right away."

"Whenever," Dorcas laughed. "It's the least I can do after what I did."

Lily faltered in her steps and grabbed onto the other girl's arm. "What did you do?" she asked slowly, forcing Dorcas to turn around and look at her.

The blonde put on an innocent smile and let out a nervous laugh. "Nothing," she lied, shaking her head.

"Dorcas!"

"Okay! I-gave-Sirius-invitations-to-the-masquerade-and-he-is-gonna-bring-James," she admitted, her words coming out fast and mumbled.

Lily's eyes narrowed and her hands curled into fists. "You...gave _Sirius_ _Black_ invitations to the masquerade?" she hissed. "And he's bringing _James_?" She threw her hands up with frustration and began muttering hostilities under breath as she charged towards the counter.

"Lily, it'll be fine. He won't even know wh- What did you call me? I heard that Lily Marie Evans and don't you dare think that you aren't going."

"I'm not going; not with Potter there. He'll follow me all night and I won't get to talk or dance and -"

"He won't even know how to find you!" Dorcas interrupted. "You'll be in a mask, remember?" She sighed heavily and grabbed her friend's shoulders. "You'll be in a mask. And you'll definitely know which bloke is Potter. He's not hard to find. Just look for the one with the mess on his head he can't keep his fingers out of and then _avoid_ him."

Lily squirmed under the other girl's hold and frowned. "But he'll know me right away." She tugged on the end of her red strands and gave Dorcas an obvious look.

Dorcas raised her eyebrows and giggled a little. "Are you serious?" she asked, grinning up at Lily. When the red-head didn't follow, the blonde rolled her eyes. "Just charm your hair. A few shades and you'll be a brunette."

Lily bit her bottom lip and gave Dorcas a sheepish grin. "I forgot that I can do that now," she admitted with a laugh. "Oh, come on, it's easy to forget. You get told over and over that you can't do magic outside of school, then when you're seventeen, you just...it's easy to forget." She pouted her lips and let her eyes move towards the counter where her gown now lay in a neat box. "Okay."

Dorcas squealed in excitement and rushed up to the counter. "We'll take it!"

Lily smirked and stepped up beside her friend. "Uh, Muggle money," she whispered as she spotted a flash of gold in the blonde's hands.

"I knew that," Dorcas huffed as she replaced the Galleons and pulled out a handful of pounds. "Wanna get some ice cream when we leave here?" the girl asked, her tone light and playful.

Instantly, Lily's face flushed red and the girl nodded. "If you insist," she giggled.

* * *

**SCENE IV. Diagon Alley. Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.**

Davey Gudgeon had been working summers at his Uncle Florean's ice cream parlour since he was eleven years old. The boy had been headstrong, determined to pay for his own school things his first year of Hogwarts, and his uncle always had a soft spot for children. It started easy, he would merely clean tables and greet customers, but as the years went by, Davey became more and more useful around the shop. Now, at seventeen, he was able to manage the entire parlour alone during even the hottest of summer days.

The worn out young man was just wiping down the last of the outdoor tables after a busy shift when his light brown eyes spotted two girls headed his way. Initially, he prepared himself for the traditional greeting that he would always give to customers. On second glance, the boy recognized the two. His smile grew wide and he quickly tucked his cleaning cloth into his back pocket and pulled at the bottom of his shirt to straighten it out. "Well hello, ladies," he greeted the girls as they neared, pulling one hand back through his wavy locks of dirty blonde.

Dorcas wiggled her fingers at Davey and hooked her arm through Lily's. "Got a table for us?" she asked with a smirk as she glanced around at the now empty establishment.

"Only the best for you two," Davey answered with a grin as he waved his hand for the girls to follow him inside. He led them to the table nearest the marble slab mixing stones and hurried behind the display case. "What can I get you?" he asked, putting on an eager smile. "And make it something wild, I've been practicing with some new charms." He pulled out his wand and twirled it playfully around his fingers.

Lily grinned at the boy and slid her dress box onto the table before her and Dorcas approached the counter. "You go first," she told her blonde friend.

Dorcas twirled a strand of hair around her finger and stared over the case a moment. "Alright, Davey," she began. "Give me some butter pecan ice cream with chunks of strawberries and fudge syrup and some of those little crushed cookies." She nodded at the boy and quickly added, "Oh, and add a little coconut. I love coconut."

Davey nodded and pointed his wand at the ice cream as his free hand scooped up a dish. It was quite the show he put on; the ice cream leapt into the air and the drizzles of fudge syrup charmed to weave itself into the butter pecan. Davey twisted his wand and beamed a smile as the chunks of strawberries, crushed cookies and coconut flew up into the ice cream and worked themselves around inside of it just before the entire mixture slid effortlessly into the glass dish.

Both Lily and Dorcas clapped as the boy handed over the ice cream dish. "That was awesome," Dorcas giggled and Lily added in, "It really was."

Davey preened at the compliments and gave Lily a soft smile. "Thanks. It's so much more fun than just mixing it up by hand on this thing," he told her, tapping his wand on the cold marble slab to indicate what he meant. "So...what can I get for you then?" he asked, waving his hand over the vast display of ice creams and smiling widely at the red-head.

Lily ducked her head a bit, a slight pink raising to her cheeks. "I'll just have some vanilla with treacle syrup," he answered, shrugging a bit.

"That's far too easy," Davey whined playfully. "Nothing else?"

"Um...you can add some sprinkles," she offered with a grin.

Davey's eyes lit up and the boy quickly made the same wand movements as he had when pulling Dorcas' ice cream from the containers. His hand swept up a dish and the vanilla twisted in the air in front of him, ready to receive its lace of treacle syrup. And Lily's smile stretched across her lips, pulling the boy's attention from his work at the most crucial moment. The stream of treacle syrup rose into the air, heading for the ice cream; the wand movement wasn't precise enough, however, and instead the stream shot past the vanilla and straight onto the smiling Lily Evans.

The girl let out a cry of surprise and stood motionless from the shock of being hit with syrup. Davey's mouth dropped open and a string of apologies rattled out over and over as he let the mixture splatter over the counter and rushed around it to the red-head, grabbing a fresh cleaning cloth as he ran. Lily burst into a fit of laughter as the boy dabbed a line of treacle syrup from her cheek.

"I guess it's a good thing I didn't want hot fudge," Lily laughed, pulling the cloth from Davey's hand and wiping at her own neck.

"I'm so sorry, Lily," Davey whispered, unable to contain his grin.

"That's okay, you can make it up to me with a dance at the masquerade," Lily whispered back.

* * *

**A Note From the Author: Thank you for reading. I really hope that you chose to follow the story. It isn't very long at all. Only three chapters. :D Written for the "Romeo, oh Romeo" challenge where the prompt was to write a true love story. It was really hard to think of a Lily/James idea that hasn't been done already, but I hope, hope, hope that I got something a little original at least. Review please? Good or bad. :D –Jenna**


	2. ACT II

**ACT II.**

**PROLOGUE.**

With invitations clutched in hand, James Potter was ready for the big night;

Ready to find and romance the girl who haunted his every waking thought.

Draped in their finest dress robes and fitted with masks to hide their eyes;

The Marauders set forth for the Meadowes' estate to attend the masquerade.

And at the estate, two girls also readied themselves for the evening's soiree;

Lily Evans prepared to dance all night with Davey, unaware of James' plan.

* * *

**SCENE I. The Meadowes' estate. Foyer.**

James Potter couldn't stand still as the four Marauders waited in line to gain entrance to the masquerade. He just short of threw the invitations at the house-elf standing guard by the door. The creature frowned up at the boy and stepped aside to allow him, Sirius, Peter and Remus to step inside the foyer of the Meadowes' home.

Sirius stared around in awe at the lavish decorations and quickly caught his friend's hand as it moved towards his hair. "James, keep your hand out of it. Took me twenty minutes to charm that mess into laying down, don't go messing it up."

James nodded and tugged at the edges of his elegant plum dress robes. "Right. Don't touch. She'd know me for sure if I mess it up," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. The boy started pacing and giving himself gentle reminders of what not to do while dancing with Lily. He lifted his mask from his face and secured his glasses so he could see.

"You shouldn't talk either," Peter added as he adjusted his golden mask. The shortest boy of the four peeked around the corner and gazed into the ballroom, a look of worry crossing his face. "How are you gonna find her?" he asked, looking back to the other boys.

"She'll be the red-head," Remus answered pointedly.

"Oh, no she won't," came a delicate voice from behind the boys. A short blonde girl in a shimmering black dress casually approached the four boys, her hands locked behind her back and her pink lips twisted into a smirk. "If you're talking about Lily, she won't be a red-head," the girl continued. "I watched her charm her hair myself."

"Dorcas," Sirius pointed out in a soft and loving tone. "Aren't you a vision?" he went on.

"Save it, Black, I'm not telling you what she's wearing." Dorcas grinned at the boy's defeat and turned her eyes towards Remus. "Let's dance," she told him.

"I-I really don't know how to d-"

"That wasn't a question," Dorcas interrupted, slipping her hand into the boy's and pulling him into the ballroom.

Remus threw one desperate glance back at his friends, his eyes pleading from behind his crimson mask, before vanishing around the corner.

"Ah, Remus, alas we knew him well," Sirius sighed as he watched his friend getting swept away. "He'll be fine, I'm sure," he added with a grin, waving his hand towards the boy's former location. "We need to focus on how you're gonna find Lily." He turned back to James and clapped the boy hard on the back. "All that work won't matter if you can't get your dance."

"I already found her." James' voice drew out in a dreamy tone as his hazel eyes stared into the ballroom and his face twisted into a goofy grin. "She looks beautiful," he sighed, tilting his head.

Sirius followed the other boy's line of sight straight towards a brunette bathed in deep blue and set with a silver mask. "How do you know that's her?" he asked as the girl smiled and waved to several boys a few paces from her. "Can you see her eyes from here?"

James shook his head and pulled his glasses from his face. "The way she walks, mate. So delicate and soft, like she's dancing." He pushed his glasses into his pocket and lowered his white mask into place.

"Wait...you can seriously tell who Lily is by the way she walks?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrows at the taller boy. When James nodded, Peter bit his bottom lip and smirked. "You sound like a complete stalker, mate."

"I'm okay with that," James answered, his eyes trying to focus on the girl he believed to be Lily. He squinted, annoyed at his rubbish vision and pushed Peter to the side. "I'm going in. Wish me luck guys," he said before heading into the ballroom and straight over to the girl in dark blue.

"He's a bit mental," Sirius laughed as he watched the boy walk away.

"More than a bit, I'd say," Peter followed.

"Wanna get some food?" the dark haired boy asked, turning to the remaining Marauder.

Peter merely shrugged and followed Sirius out of the foyer.

* * *

**SCENE II. The Meadowes' estate. Ballroom.**

Lily Evans kept her eyes alert as she walked slowly through the small crowd in the ballroom. The girl was on alert for two things, Davey and James. James she imagined would be more than easy to find. The boy would have a mess of black hair that he couldn't keep his hand out of and somehow, he'd be wearing glasses. She assumed that he'd be in robes of crimson and gold; for no one loved boasting Gryffindor pride like James Potter. Davey Gudgeon, she was guessing, would be harder to spot. While she knew his general build and hairstyle, she didn't know much about the boy's mannerisms or style.

This worried Lily. And what worried her more was that Davey might not be able to find her without her obvious hair colour to lead him.

She twisted a charmed-brunette curl around her finger and gave a casual wave to a group of boys in front of her. She let out a small sigh as she continued through the room in search of her desired fellow. A small gasp escaped the girl's throat when she felt a hand on her lower back. She whirled around, her dark blue dress fluttering around her feet, and smiled at a boy in a white mask. "Hello," she offered.

The boy adjusted his plum coloured robes and held his hand out to Lily, flashing her a charming smile. For a moment, Lily was sure he was going to speak, but the boy remained silent. He merely tilted his head towards the dance floor and smiled once more. The girl let her emerald eyes trail over him cautiously. She analyzed his hair, posture, eyes, smile, robes, even his shoes and when she was certain it was safe, she slipped her hand into his and let him lead her to the dance floor.

James felt as though his heart were going to beat right out of his chest and land on the floor in front of him. He squeezed Lily's hand and spun her around, taking the girl into his arms gently. He rested his hand properly around her waist and laced their fingers together on the other hand. The music moved him, his body taking control where his brain could not.

Years of dancing lessons from his parents paid off for James as he stared into Lily's eyes and guided her gently around the dance floor. Their hips swayed softly in time with the beat and James didn't even notice when the girl stepped on his toes, twice.

Lily tilted her head and smiled softly up at the boy as he led her through a basic three-four step waltz. She let her hand slide from James' shoulder and wrap around his neck in an effort to be closer. Never before had the girl felt so safe as she did in his arms. Never before had she felt so loved and needed as she did when she stared into the boy's eyes. How she longed to have the lighting brighter so that she could make out the colour of the eyes which were making her weak at the knees.

James pulled back and gave Lily a small spin, causing her to let out a small cry and giggle as she came back around into his arms. He smiled down at her happy face and moved his fingers through the edge of her hair. How he longed to dip his head and kiss the smooth lips that lined the smile making him lose his breath and all coherent thought. And though the girl was staring at him as though she desired the same, James did not. He knew it wouldn't be right to steal a kiss when she did not know who he was.

"Do you believe in love at first dance?" Lily whispered, grinning up at the boy.

James slowly shook his head and reached his hand out towards a vase of white roses. He pulled a single rose from amongst its companions and brushed it along Lily's jawline. "I believe in patience," he whispered so low his voice couldn't be deciphered. "Love is like a flower, give it time and it will grow." He lifted the girl's hand and turned it out, then gently placed the rose stem in her fingers.

Lily brought the flower to her nose and closed her eyes as she inhaled the sweet aroma. She was only in her created darkness for a moment, but when her eyes opened once more, her suitor had vanished from sight. The girl spun around, her eyes frantically scanning over the other dancers, her face panicked as she searched for her lost partner. She brought the rose to her chest and dropped her eyes to the floor, accepting that the boy was gone.

* * *

**SCENE III. The Meadowes' estate. Library.**

"Ow! You crazy bird, get off me!" James yelled as he was shoved into the Meadowes' library by none other than Dorcas herself. "Are you mental?"

"Don't you push me, Potter," Dorcas snapped, putting her finger up as a warning to the boy, instantly silencing his protests. The girl spun around and secured the doors behind her, then rounded back on James. "I don't know how you figured out which girl was her, but it isn't funny."

"I agree. There's not a damn thing funny about being ripped away from your date."

"She isn't your date. You had one dance."

"And more to come." James lifted his mask from his eyes and pushed his glasses hastily onto his face. "What's the problem? She was having fun; she liked dancing with me."

"Because she didn't know it was you," Dorcas argued. "How many times does she have to tell you no before you get it through your head? She doesn't like you."

"Well her eyes were saying something very different," James rebutted.

"Because she didn't kn-"

"She will know. Later tonight, she'll know and she'll still feel what she felt during that dance." James reached up and shoved his hand into his hair, grimacing at his lack of control. He grumbled under his breath as he glanced around in search of a reflective surface.

The sound of the doorknob being rattled made both James and Dorcas stiffen. "Dorcas, are you in there?" came Lily's voice from outside the door.

"Yeah, hold on!" Dorcas answered before grabbing James' shoulders and shoving the boy behind an armchair. "Don't you dare come out of hiding," she hissed, glaring threateningly at him. She hurried to the door and let Lily into the library. "What are you doing?" she asked, flashing the girl an innocent smile.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Lily laughed. "Why are you in here?"

"I was looking for Remus," Dorcas lied, turning away from Lily to avoid her eyes. "He seems to have slipped out on me," she continued, though that wasn't a lie. "Were you looking for me?"

Lily nodded and closed the doors back to the room, then leaned against them. "It was amazing," she whispered, a look of dreamy-abandon crossing her face. She pulled the white rose to her nose and inhaled it deeply before looking over at Dorcas. "He was amazing."

"He who? Who was amazing?" Dorcas asked as she fiddled with the ribbon on her dress.

"Davey," Lily answered with a big smile.

"D-Davey?" Dorcas stammered. "You saw Davey?"

"We danced," Lily answered. She twirled the rose around in her fingers and waved it towards the other girl. "He was so romantic. And handsome and charming. It was wonderful."

Dorcas chewed on her bottom lip and shifted her weight nervously between her feet. "Are you sure it was Davey?" she asked. "What um, what was he wearing?"

"Purple. Such a pretty purple and this white mask." She held her arms out and gave a slow spin, her head tipped back in thought. "We danced and he said the sweetest thing. Oh, Dorcas, I knew he felt the same way about me!" She gave a small squeal and grabbed her friend by the shoulders. "I can't wait until midnight. When he pulls that mask off, I'm gonna tell him exactly how I feel!"

"Lily what if it wasn't Davey?"

"Of course it was." Lily scoffed loudly and turned her back on her friend. "I'm gonna go try to find him again. Wish me luck," she said before pushing out of the library.

Dorcas stared after her friend and shook her head slowly. "Do you see?" she called out, turning back towards the arm chair where she had shoved James.

The boy slowly got to his feet and walked out of the library without a word.

* * *

**SCENE IV. The Meadowes' estate. Garden.**

Davey Gudgeon twisted inside of Sirius' grip as he was unkindly escorted into the gardens behind the Meadowes' home. He jerked his arm away and ripped his mask from over his eyes. "What's wrong with you?" he growled, taking a step away from the other boy. He tugged at his robes and grumbled under his breath about being manhandled.

"How'd you find him so fast?" James asked as he stepped up beside his best friend and leaned his arm on the shorter boy's shoulder.

"It was easy," Sirius boasted. "I just have a sort of sixth sense about these kinds of things. I'm a people reader. I can look at someone and just know that th-"

"He yelled my name and I turned around," Davey interrupted, annoyed at Sirius' unjustified bragging.

Sirius pointed his finger at Davey and snapped his teeth in a canine fashion. "Just settle yourself, Gudgeon, we have an offer for you."

James put up his hands and forced Sirius to take a few steps back, though he couldn't make the boy stop glaring at Davey. "Let me handle this," he told his friend. When Sirius seemed docile enough, James started unbuttoning his dress robes. "Davey, take off your robes," he instructed as he pulled his own back off his shoulders and passed them to Sirius.

"What?" Davey asked, his eyes wide in confusion.

"We're switching," James answered. "Just take them off and wear mine."

"No! You're a bloody loon. I'm not _switching_ you robes. These are my dad's. He would have a fit if you took them."

"Oh, come on, my robes are worth three times the Galleons yours are. I'm not gonna keep them. We can meet up tomorrow and switch back." James held his hands out and tugged on the shoulder of the other boy's olive drab coloured dress robes.

"Stop," Davey whined, slapping James' hand away from him. "I'm not trading clothes with you. Why would I do that?"

James narrowed his eyes and dragged his hand through his hair, no longer caring to keep it neat. "Do you like Lily?" he asked in a whisper.

"I'm not discussing that with y-"

"Just answer the question, Gudgeon," Sirius barked.

Davey frowned at being yelled at and straightened out his posture. "Yes. Are you happy now? I happen to be quite fond of Miss Evans."

"Quite fond of Miss Evans?" Sirius repeated with a laugh. "Look, Lancelot, we aren't asking you to join the round table, just give him your robes."

"Stuff it, Black!" Davey threatened.

"Or what? You'll fetch a bunch of your Puffer pals and take me down?" Sirius chided.

"That's enough!" James cried out, shoving Sirius back a few steps. He took a long breath and turned to Davey with a serious face. "If you want Lily, then just do as I ask," he said calmly.

"Why should I trust you?" Davey questioned, his voice skeptical. "It's no secret that you want her too."

"You should trust me because I don't _just_ want Lily. I want Lily to be happy. Even that means..." James took a long breath and dropped his eyes to the ground. "Even if that means letting her be with you."

* * *

**SCENE V. The Meadowes' estate. Ballroom.**

As midnight loomed, Lily could feel her heart sinking. She had searched the entire ballroom three times over and found no signs of her plum decked beau. The girl lingered near the refreshment table, poking mindlessly at a mushroom topped hors d'œuvre. The tip of her fingernail flicked at the mushroom, trying her best to remove it while not disturbing the rest of the treat.

"How about a dance?" came a voice from behind the girl.

Lily turned, ready to reject the fourth suitor that had sought her out since the vanishing. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the stark white mask and plum coloured robes. "You're back," she whispered, dropping her tiny plate onto the table without a care. "I thought you'd disappeared."

"I...I just had to step out for a minute," the boy answered, holding his hand out to Lily.

She eagerly took his hand and allowed herself to be swept up into a dance. The two glided across the floor, happily chatting and swaying until the large clock chimed twelve. Lily let out a long and frightened breath as she stepped away and cast her eyes up to the boy before her. Slowly, she reached up and slid the sliver from around her eyes, revealing herself to the ballroom. "Your turn," she whispered with a nervous smile.

The boy's fingers reached for the mask and tugged it away. Davey beamed a crooked smile down at Lily and stuffed the mask into his pocket. "Well?" he asked.

"I knew it was you," Lily answered with a relieved laugh as she jumped to her toes and threw her arms tightly around the boy's neck.

"I take it you're pleased?" Davey laughed as he returned the embrace and stared across the ballroom towards a boy wearing his own olive drab robes. He raised his hand, giving the other boy a small wave, then returned his attention to Lily.

James frowned at seeing Davey's wave, but he raised his hand in answer none-the-less. He scratched his head under the cheap mask and adjusted his glasses before turning away from the sight of Lily in another boy's arms. "Let's just go," he whispered as Peter stepped up beside him, a plate of snacks for offer. "I'm not hungry, mate. I just wanna go home."

Peter nodded and discarded the plate quickly, then gave a come hither wave to Sirius from across the ballroom. The other boy nodded and heeded his call, soon joining James and Peter by the wall. "He wants to go home," Peter told Sirius at the boy's questioning look.

"Alright, we just gotta find Remus," Sirius answered.

"Right here," came Remus' voice as if on cue. "I saw what happened. Are you alright?" he asked looking down to James.

James shook his head and buried his hands deep into his pockets. "No, of course I'm not alright," he answered, his words a bit broken. "I just want out of here," he insisted, taking the lead to escape the Meadowes' home.

Peter looked up at Remus and Sirius with worry in his eyes and dutifully followed behind the boy.

Sirius reached over and pat Remus on the back as they trailed their friends. "He'll be alright, won't he?" he asked, throwing a glance back towards Davey and Lily as the couple began another dance.

"I don't know," Remus answered.

"You're supposed to tell me _yes, he'll be okay_. I don't want that honesty stuff right now," Sirius pleaded.

"Yes, he'll be okay," Remus corrected.

"Hey Remus?" Sirius asked, his tone a bit lighter. "Are you wearing pink lipstick?"

"No!" Remus cried out, wiping at his lips with a worried fervor.

"At least one person got what they wanted tonight," Sirius laughed as they headed into the foyer.

* * *

**A Note From the Author: Thanks for reading. One chapter to go! :D –Jenna**


	3. ACT III

**ACT III.**

**PROLOGUE.**

Lily Evans was over the moon to learn that she had been made Head Girl;

That excitement was near snuffed out when she got word of the Head Boy.

Somehow, James Potter had managed to secure such a position of honour;

But Lily was determined to perform her duties in top form, none-the-less.

She was Head Girl, girlfriend of Davey Gudgeon, ready for her NEWTs;

Seventh year was going to be her year, she'd be unstoppable, she knew it.

* * *

**SCENE I. On the Hogwarts Express. Prefect car.**

Davey Gudgeon twisted his hands in his lap as he sat in the Prefects' car of the Hogwarts Express awaiting Lily. He tugged at the hem of his shirt, fidgeted with his tie and smoothed back his dirty blonde hair several times over; all to the annoyance of Remus Lupin, who arrived just as early as Davey. Remus tried to keep his eyes focused on his book, but the squirming boy across from him was quite distracting. He glanced up and threw Davey a warning look, earning himself a scoff in return.

"Do stop your fretting, would you?" Remus insisted, casually turning the page of his book. "You're making it hard to concentrate."

"Can't help it," Davey spat back as he smoothed his hands down over his legs. "How can I just be all calm and settled when that tosser is going to be Head Boy with Lily?"

Remus slammed his book closed and narrowed his eyes dangerously at the other boy. "That _tosser_, as you put it, happens to be one of my best mates, so stop talking about him that way."

"Sorry," Davey muttered. "But still...I doubt he's just gotten over Lily. He's gonna have all this time with her now and they'll be doing rounds together and making up schedules and how in the hell did _he_ even end up Head Boy?"

"I don't know," Remus answered simply as he searched for his lost page.

Davey shifted on his seat and leaned towards Remus. "Doesn't it bother you? You're Gryffindor Prefect, he wasn't even a Prefect...but now he's gone and gotten your spot."

"My spot?" Remus laughed. "Head Boy was _not_ my spot. I don't know why I'm even a Prefect to begin with," he added with a hint of bitterness in his tone. "If anything, I thought _you_ were going to be Head. Funny how things work out, huh?" He gave the other boy a small smirk and lifted his book back in front of his face to hide his growing smile.

Before Davey could respond to Remus' comment, the door to the car slid open to reveal Lily Evans already in her Hogwarts robes, her Head Girl badge gleaming proudly on her chest. "Hey guys," she greeted the two with an excited smile. "Not surprised to see you two here early," she went on as she dropped onto the seat next to Davey and slipped her hand into his.

While Remus merely made a humming sound that the others took to be a greeting, Davey turned his full attention onto Lily and launched into a detailed account of his morning. The red-head listened with eagerness and briefly mentioned her own morning, though there wasn't much to tell as she'd had a rather common place and uneventful send off from her parents.

"How was your morning, Remus?" Lily asked, knocking her hand into her friend's knee to get his attention.

"Fine," the boy answered without looking up from his book.

"Have you seen Dorcas yet?"

"Nope."

Lily sighed heavily and rolled her eyes at the boy though he couldn't even see her. "From what I heard, things went well at the masquerade for you two. Why are you being all cold again?"

Remus rubbed his eyes and consented that he would not be able to get any more reading done now that Lily was in a talkative mood. He closed his book and made slow work of stashing it away in his pocket, dawdling long enough that the three were joined by several other Prefects in the time. "Things went fine. And I'm not being cold. I just don't find it necessary to spend every single moment of the day with some girl."

"Some girl! She isn't just some girl, Remus." Lily folded her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows in upset. "She's your girlfriend now, you're supposed to want to spend time with her."

"She's not...she's not my girlfriend," Remus argued, shaking his head. "I do want to spend – You know what? I'm not going to discuss this with you," he finished, putting his hands up in defeat. "It really isn't your business, to be honest."

Lily gasped at the boy's words and pouted out her lips in an exceedingly childish manner. "You always talk to me though."

"Not about your best mate, I won't," he replied simply before greeting several fifth year Prefects and telling them where to sit.

"Well, I guess there's no point in rushing them," Lily whispered to Davey. "Love takes time, right? Like a rose."

Davey raised his eyebrows and gave a small nod to the girl. "Yeah...time, roses, all that..." he trailed off, unsure why the red-head was giving him such an expectant look.

Lily frowned at the response, but didn't push it. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and scanned her emerald eyes over the students that had gathered. "Figures," she muttered. When Remus looked at her with questioning eyes, she waved her hand to the others and tilted her head. "I was just saying that it figures James would wait until the last possible moment to show up. He's supposed to be Head Boy but he isn't setting a very good example."

Remus snorted loudly at the girl and got to his feet. "Setting a good example? Like you've just done by jumping to conclusions? I'll have you know that James' mum is pretty sick and he's spending as much time with her as he can before he gets on the train." When Lily's mouth opened in clear intent of recanting her scolding remarks, Remus held up his hand and shook his head. "Don't," he scoffed before stepping out of the car to search for James, Peter and Sirius.

Lily pressed her lips tightly together and tilted her head to the floor as the door slid back closed behind Remus. "I didn't realize," she whispered to no one in particular.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I don't think he's mad at you; he was acting all weird before you even showed up." Davey squeezed the girl's hand and gave her a comforting smile, his light brown eyes growing soft and gentle as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Smile," he insisted. "You're the Head Girl now, you have to put on a happy face."

And Lily did.

* * *

**SCENE II. On the Hogwarts Express. Center aisle.**

Remus sighed loudly as he slid the door closed behind him and started down the aisle for the door of the train. He moved slowly, trying not to knock into any of the students as they passed by him.

"Moony, looking for us?" Sirius called out, giving the taller boy a pat on the back as he and James stepped onto the train.

Remus nodded and threw a worried glance towards James. "Morning," he said, trying to sound casual.

James beamed a large smile at the boy and grabbed his shoulders, giving him a small shake. "You're supposed to be up here, mate," he said, tilting his head towards the Prefect car where Remus had just emerged from. "Don't think that you're getting special treatment just because you're close to me. I'm gonna make you do just as many rounds." The boy gave a small laugh and started down the aisle. "In fact, I may assign you to do mine too," he teased with a louder laugh before disappearing into the Prefect car.

"Bloke's pretty torn up," Sirius whispered once the door was closed and he was sure James could no longer hear them. "The whole Lily thing and now his mum...I don't know how's he keeping up like that." He rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head, his grey eyes dropping to the floor.

"Suppose it's better than falling apart. You know how James is; he doesn't..." Remus trailed off with a shrug and leaned against the wall of the train. "How's Mrs. Potter doing?" he asked, throwing a glance around to ensure they weren't being listened to.

Sirius merely shook his head and cleared his throat awkwardly. "How are you doing?" he asked, changing the subject. "You don't look too bad," he added.

Remus tilted his head and grimaced in response. The full moon had ended three days prior and he was still feeling a bit sore, cranky and tired from it. "I'm fine. A little moody I guess."

The other boy rubbed his friend's shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Snack trolley'll be around soon. I'll get you some candy; that'll make you feel better." He released a heavy sigh and brought his hands back through his hair. "Keep an eye on James in there, will you?" he asked, thumbing over his shoulder.

"You know I will," Remus answered quietly.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm so late," came the exhausted cry of Peter Pettigrew as he stepped up in front of Sirius and Remus. The boy looked highly disheveled, his blond hair mussed up in the back and his shirt sleeve torn at the seam. "Got into a bit of a situation on the platform," he laughed.

Sirius eyed over the shortest Marauder and exchanged confused glances with Remus. "Yeah..." he started. "Come on, Wormy, let's go get a compartment and you can explain..._this_," he continued, flicking at the boy's torn shirt. He waved back to Remus as the two left him to his lonesome in search of a place to sit.

Remus took a long breath and steadied himself before returning to the Prefects' car.

* * *

**SCENE III. Hogwarts. Seventh year Gryffindor girls' dormitory.**

"Good to be back," Dorcas said with a smile as she dropped onto the edge of her bed and fell back. "And now we're seventh years. Top of the heap! This year is going to be amazing," she went on. She groaned loudly as she sat back up and shook out her golden blonde hair. "Something's bugging you."

Lily turned back to her friend and gave the girl an innocent smile. "Why would something be bothering me?" she asked before flinging open her trunk and starting to separate her school items from her personal ones. "Everything's great. Great room, great friends, great new shiny badge; what could be wrong?"

Dorcas narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. "You're lying," she said calmly.

"So what if I am? I don't wanna talk about it, okay?" Lily lined out her text books and placed a photo of her family on the table beside her bed. After a prolonged silence filled with mindless organizing and staring, the girl finally spoke up again. "It's just something that happened on the train is all. Davey was acting kinda weird and James...well he was -"

"Being a complete dork and drooling on you?" Dorcas asked with a laugh.

"No," Lily answered with pursed lips. "He was being civil and polite and very _un_-James-like in almost every way imaginable."

"Almost?"

"Well, he couldn't keep his bloody hand out of the rat's nest he calls hair," Lily finished, grinning cattily at her friend. "He was being nice...that's my point." She lifted a preserved white rose from her trunk and brought it to her chest. Instantly, her eyes closed and she was back to the masquerade, being swept up into the arms of a masked boy with a charming smile. Her head swayed in time with the music only she could hear and her hand mindlessly twirled the rose around.

"Lils! What are you doing?" Dorcas yelled, bringing her friend out of the private world. "You look like a nutter. Don't be doing that when the others get in here, they'll tell Dumbledore you've gone wonky."

Lily rolled her eyes at the other girl and secured the rose above her bed with a simple sticking charm. "I was just thinking about the dance."

"Oh?" Dorcas asked hesitantly. On so many occasions she'd been given the chance to confess to Lily that James was the one to dance with her first. She knew that James had given Lily the rose; that _he_ was the one her best friend dreamed about at night. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Davey was a good boy and Lily was so enamored with him; Dorcas couldn't break that fantasy. She never asked how the robe switch took place; she didn't want any more information than she already had.

"Just thinking about what he said." Lily frowned and lowered herself onto the bed, tugging at her robes as they bunched under her. "It was the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life and now...well...I don't think he even remembers it."

Dorcas swallowed dryly and put on an innocent smile. "Maybe it was a...spur of the moment kinda thing. I know that I don't remember _every_ single conversation I've ever had."

"I suppose you're right," Lily conceded. "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"He seemed different. He...danced different, spoke different, looked at me...different. It was all so quick and my heart racing and I couldn't breath right, but I noticed it." The red-head glanced up at her white rose and bit her bottom lip. "Maybe he was just nervous after taking off the mask," she offered up as a self-consolation.

"You know, that's probably exactly it. With the mask on, he was more confident and...bold! Then when you could see him, he was right back to sweet and funny Davey." Dorcas nodded excitedly and moved over to sit next to the other girl. "You got what you wanted. Why are you analyzing it?"

Lily gave a quiet laugh and leaned against her friend's shoulder. "You're right. I'm being silly." She smiled over at Dorcas.

So the blonde swallowed back her guilt and smiled back.

* * *

**SCENE IV. Hogwarts. Gryffindor common room.**

Sirius Black let out a loud whine as he stepped into the common room with Peter on his heels. "I can't do it!" he cried out, whining yet again. "I'm gonna fail them all; I just know it. NEWT year is killing me, Wormy. Look at this!" The boy pointed to his wavy black hair and gave an overly pathetic face.

"What's he whining about?" Lily asked calmly from the sofa nearest the fire without looking up from her book.

"He thinks that worrying about NEWTs is giving him grey hair," Peter answered with a smirk as he took a seat on the sofa opposite Lily.

Lily giggled quietly and closed her book over a slip of parchment to mark the page. "Really?" she asked, throwing Peter a skeptical look. When the boy nodded, she rolled her eyes and turned towards Sirius. "It's been a week. Not even a whole week, Sirius, it's been four days."

"Look for yourself!" Sirius argued, dropping onto his knees in front of Lily and pulling his hair apart in several places for inspection.

The red-headed girl smirked and peered down at the boy's flawlessly coloured locks. "I think you're right," she gasped, winking over at Peter. "I see at least four – No, six grey hairs in this area alone."

Sirius widened his eyes in horror and stared up at Lily with his mouth hanging open. "R-really? Six?" he asked, his words coming out breathless and scared.

Lily clapped her hand over her mouth to contain her laughter and pushed Sirius' shoulder. "I'm only fooling you," she answered, not believing how truly scared Sirius' face had been. "Really, there aren't any grey hairs. I promise. I'd stake my badge on it."

"I'm holding you to that," Sirius laughed, though his usual vibrant and barking laugh was laced with residual fear from the girl's joke. "Maybe you can wager James' badge instead. I hate him being Head Boy. He's been gone twice this week doing stupid rounds." The boy continued to grumble as got to his feet and joined Peter on the sofa.

"Yeah," Peter continued. "At least Remus let us tag along sometimes -" he didn't mention that the invisibility cloak was a component in this "- but not James. He's all business now."

The two boys let out identical childish scoffs that brought a laugh out of Lily. "Come on, guys, you can't expect James to stay a foolish boy forever, now can you?" she asked.

"Yes!" Sirius answered no sooner than the question escaped Lily's lips. "It was one thing when it was just Moony hovering around telling us not to do stuff. We just ignored him. But no, James is all...forceful." The boy folded his arms over his chest and shook his head in distaste.

"I will never understand why Remus hangs around you guys. You're always so mean to him."

"We are not!" Sirius and Peter yelled simultaneously. "We're not mean to him. We give him a hard time every once in a while, but we're his best mates," Sirius went on, glaring daggers at Lily. "And we've done more for him than you could imagine!"

"Okay, okay!" Lily cried out, throwing her hands up in surrender. "I just mean that he's so...calm and you're all so excitable. I didn't mean to offend," she pleaded, giving both boys sad eyes.

Peter sniggered at Lily's words and nudged Sirius in the ribs. "Bet she wouldn't think he was so _calm_ if she was around him last week," he whispered for only the other boy to hear.

Sirius nodded in agreement and twisted his fingers around in his hair. "Why don't you just ask Dorcas then," he pointed out. "She likes Remus and she's rather _excitable_ herself."

"High-strung," Peter added.

"Hot headed," Sirius went on.

"And a bit violent."

"Not to mention, she's got a tendency to scare the heck out of people."

"Okay, that's enough!" Lily interrupted. "I know Dorcas can be a little...high-strung, as you said, but she's nice. And she's loving and brave and smart and talent-"

"Whoa, I get it," Sirius laughed. "You're not trying to get _me_ to date her. Say all that to Remus; he's the one she wants."

Lily nodded and settled back into the sofa cushion with a frown. "He doesn't want her though," she said in a sad tone. "I thought he did after the masquerade, but then on the train, he was all shut off about it and he's been avoiding her since we got back to the school." She gave a shrug and twisted her fingers around in the edge of her robes. "I think they'd be great together if he'd give her a proper chance."

Sirius tilted his head and put his feet up on the near-by table. "Can't rush it. Moony's not one to jump into something without thinking it through first. He's gotta make his lists and he's...well he isn't the most confident of blokes. Just give him a little time and he might come around. You see the thing about love...it doesn't just happen. Girls believe in that love at first sight nonsense, but guys, we think of love like we think of flowers."

"What?" Lily asked cautiously, her head raising to stare across at Sirius.

"Flowers. You can't just plant a seed and get a flower right away. Love is like a flower, give it time...and it will grow. That's all you c-"

"What did you just say!" Lily hissed, shoving the book off her lap.

Sirius flinched back at the girl's change in attitude and shook his head. "What? What did I say? I was just talking about flowers, I didn't mean to make you mad!"

The girl jumped to her feet and like a flash of lightening, she was hovering over Sirius. Her hand grasped the boy's chin and forced him to look up at her. Her gaze bore down on him, searching through the fear and confusion in his grey eyes for any sign of her soul-mate. Her lips quivered when she found nothing. Slowly and with apologetic eyes, the girl released Sirius' face and slowly took a seat next to him on the sofa.

"Lily, what was that about?" Sirius whispered as he rubbed at his cheeks where the girl's fingers had dug into him.

"What you just said...about love being like a flower..." Lily put her hand to her lips and tried to contain the tears building inside her.

Sirius looked back to Peter and held up his hands, hoping the boy would have an explanation. When the blond appeared just as baffled as Sirius felt, the boy turned back to Lily. "I really didn't mean to upset you," he insisted. "All that flower stuff, I barely understand it, really. James says it a lot and I just kinda picked it up from him."

"J-James?" Lily whispered as the tears broke free and streamed down over her reddened cheeks. "You heard that from James?" When the boy nodded an affirmation, she put her hand over her heart and gripped at her robes. "I feel so stupid," she whispered.

* * *

**SCENE V. Hogwarts. Third floor hallway.**

James Potter slipped into the third floor hallway from behind the statue of the One-Eyed Witch with a bag of Honeydukes candy stuffed in his pocket. He threw the invisibility cloak over himself and pushed the passage way back closed. It wasn't until the boy was a few steps down the hall when he remembered that he didn't have to hide from Prefects any longer. With a smirk on his lips, James tugged the cloak off and shoved it into his robes for hiding, then continued towards Gryffindor tower with a hop in his step.

The sound of a sniffle froze the boy in his steps. Slowly, James turned in the direction of the sound and squinted his eyes to see through the dark. Sitting on a stone bench against the wall, bathed in the shadows, was Lily Evans. Without even thinking about it, James adjusted his robes and mussed up his hair as he headed over to the girl. "Hey," he offered lamely as he lowered onto the bench beside her.

"Hey," Lily answered, turning away from James to hide her tear streaked and red face.

"Aren't you meant to be doing rounds?" James asked, trying to sound cheerful and casual. "All the power's making you slack off." He gave a small forced laugh and rooted into his pocket for the candy.

"I was on my way to check out the trophy room," Lily whispered, dragging her hand back across her nose. "What are you doing out? It's not your night."

James unrolled the top of his candy bag and dug into it for something to offer Lily. "I was just out for a walk," he lied. "You want a licorice wand or some peppermint toads? I have Muggle chocolates too."

"Peppermint toad," Lily answered, holding out her hand with a teary smile. "I won't ask where you got such a loaded bag of Honeydukes candy at this hour," she added, giving the boy a small laugh. "Thanks." She focused intently on unwrapping the sweet and popped it in her mouth.

"So...can I ask why you're crying?" James whispered with hesitation as he busied his hands with the foil on a chocolate.

"I just broke up with Davey," she answered quietly.

Despite James' heart feeling as though it were going to jump out of his throat and onto the stone floor in front of him, the boy kept silent his feelings on the matter. He offered a simple "Oh" and the two returned to silence, keeping their attention on the candy.

"Don't you want to know why?" Lily finally asked after three peppermint toads and a piece of chocolate.

James shifted on the bench and gave an uncaring shrug, tilting his head slightly. "Well, maybe a little. Just in the tiniest of – You know I do!"

Lily couldn't help but giggle at the boy. She wiped the last remnants of tears from her eyes and reached deep inside her robes to produce the white rose from the masquerade. The girl held it out to James and stared hard into his eyes. Even through the dim lighting of the hallway, Lily could see it in his eyes. She could see the recognition and what slightly resembled hope.

"You kept it?" he asked in a low voice. "I mean...um, what's that?" he corrected quickly, giving the girl his best attempt at an innocent face.

"James, I'm sorry," Lily whispered. "I'm sorry that I couldn't tell it was you." She pulled the rose back to her and stared down at it with new tears brimming in her eyes. "Why did you lie to me? Why did you give him your robes?"

James opened and closed his mouth, trying desperately to find the answer Lily wanted. "I just...I..." He sighed quietly and hung his head. "I heard you talking to Dorcas in the library. You wanted it to be him so bad and I-I wanted you to be happy; to get what you wanted...what you deserved."

"So you switched," Lily finished, her eyes still on the rose.

"I'm sorry, Lily, I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"I know you didn't," she answered. She slowly reached out and laid her hand over James'. "I have more to apologize for than you do." Lily squeezed his hand and got to her feet, then turned back and smiled down at the boy. "We have plenty of time for that though."

"We do?" James asked, looking up at the girl with a half grin.

Lily merely nodded in answer and held her hand out to the boy. "Come on, you can help me finish my rounds."

The boy jumped to his feet and stuffed his candy back into his pocket with an eager smile. He slipped his fingers into Lily's and did everything he could to contain the urge to grab the girl and hug her so tight she might faint.

As the two started towards the trophy room hand-in-hand, Lily couldn't help but insist, "Okay, you have to tell me where you got the candy."

* * *

**A Note From the Author: And the rest – as they say – is history folks. Thank you so much for reading and don't be afraid to drop me a review!. :D –Jenna**


End file.
